Bruno Senkatuka Serunkuuma, the clan head of the Luggya and Lunyiriri of Andereya Mayanja Nakiyenje, whose estate of 320 Acres of land was illegally sold by the officials at the Administrator General’s office since 1993, dies inexplicably.

Senkatuka, the head of the Ssiga of Nakiyenje died abruptly two weeks ago after waiting for the Administrator General to account for the estate as ordered by the court in vain. As the head of the Ssiga of Nakiyenje, he was made the heir after the death of Mayanja’s only son, Henry Kyobe (his first cousin) but the Administrator General made it very difficult for him to take over the estate. Following the delay and impunity by AG to implement the court order signed and sealed on November 10, 2020, by Justice David Matovu, Senkatuka summoned a clan meeting that sat at Bukasa – Bijiri Kawuku – Katabi – Entebbe, Wakiso District on December 06, 2020, to, among other things, install the heir of Kyobe’s estate. The minutes of the meeting vide CLCSDC/A002/22/01/2021 that was attended by 25 clan members declared Kaweesa Balikuddembe as the heir and the installation ceremony presided over by Senkatuka, another senior elder, Kalyesubula John Baptist Lukenge, and later closed with a Catholic Church mass led by Rev. Fr. Kalaudiyo Ssegonja of Ggaba Parish.   

HOW KYOBE’S ESTATE WAS ILLEGALLY SOLD

More details on how 320 acres of land (comprised in Busiro Block 429 plot 3 at Kawuku – Bugiri) previously belonging to Mzee Andereya Mayanja Nakiyenje, who died in 1981 at Bwerenga – Busiro in Wakiso District, was mismanaged and split into 163 plots and illegally sold with no standard formula have emerged.

Following Justice Herbert Ntabgoba’s judgment in HCS no. 170 of 1990, all property left by Late Mayanja was passed on to his only son, Henry Kyobe, who, unfortunately, was mentally disabled due to a serious accident hence remained in a state of unsound mind throughout his life.

This came after the office of the Administrator General on May 19, 1989, applying for the letters of administration for the estate of late Mayanja vide Kampala High Court Administration cause No. 265 of 1989, and a grant was issued in favour on June 27, 1989. However, this privilege was abused by the officials at the office of Administrator General, who reportedly connived with suspicious family members and, without any Court Order(s), divided and illegally sold the entire deceased’s estate. It is hitherto not known where the proceeds went because the trustee has no evidence that Kyobe or his people benefited and has failed to account.

ADMINISTRATOR GENERAL ‘RAPES’ LAW

The Administrator General’s Act requires that whenever the estate is sold by the accused office, it must be in the interest of the beneficiaries. The overwhelming evidence indicates that huge chunks of land were sold after Kyobe died in 2019, and this raises unanswered questions: in whose interest was the sale done? If the land was sold and the beneficiaries did not benefit, where did the money go?

Besides, the law requires the Administrator General to advertise in the newspapers, and if there is no claimant (a legally appointed beneficially by the court), the money is put in the consolidated fund. Contrary to the law, there is no trace of the money obtained from the proceeds of Kyobe’s estate in the consolidated fund.     

The Trustee Act states that in the interest of beneficially at all material times, the trustee is accountable forever without any limitation, so the Administrator General is accountable for the estate in question since 1993 until an unspecified time. If one goes by the current law on the management of the estates for the people with unsound mind, there should have been a court order secured by the Administrator General to do any transaction regarding the estate. In the case of Kyobe’s estate, the lease of Land to Aurum Roses and Scripture Union must have been done under court guidance, and the proceeds of the lease must have been accounted for in court and there is no evidence adduced to this effect.   Even then, any sale, transfer or mortgage for whatever purpose must be after a Court Order is obtained, and all these have never been furnished. This leaves no doubt in the minds of the sound Ugandans that the properties were sold to benefit the officials at the office of the Administrator General.

None of the records unearthed from the Lands office in connection with this matter carries any signature of Kyobe’s beneficiaries from either the paternal or maternal side. All the records seen by this publication indicate that the Administrator General was selling as a vendor, and people who bought were endorsed as buyers. The Administrator General did not build any house, kitchen, or even a toilet for Kyobe or any of his close relatives. To make matters worse, the officials at the Administrator General’s office did not even meet Kyobe’s burial expenses as required by law, which confirms that they were in collusion with Nanteza Agati, who hid his body at Mulago Medical School as they sold his land. The question remains where and when did the officials send the proceeds of the estate?

Besides all that, there were contradictions and inconsistencies in selling the land, something that turned the whole process into a BONANZA. The people who bought different sizes almost at the same time had differing payments – the available documents show that there was no valuation or standard procedure followed, and this implies that the officials were the final determinants on how much each buyer would pay, depending on their moods. A case in point is: whereas Dimitria Nabbantu Kaddugala paid Shs18.500,000 for 0.532 hectares, Paul Seminyigo Wavamuno paid Shs20,000,000 for 0.281 hectares, and whereas Thereza Najjuna paid Shs4,000,000 for 0.6 hectares, Sentamu Francis Xavier paid Shs30,000,000 for 0.587 hectares. To further prove that the Administrator General officials had a lot of suspicious interests, when some buyers raised questions and made appropriate searches at the land’s offices, the land would be withdrawn. A case study of this is clear in the land that was first sold to Dhusaniya Binyera of Ziba – Ssaabaga – Kyagwe, then transferred to Nasani Wakisu of Mova Gomba Ngogwe – Kyaggwe, and then transferred to Aggrey Mulira, then to Bruno Senkatuka and Madalene Nakku. This land was later withdrawn from the first owners back to the Administrator General in 1995.

Another case of hidden interests of the Trustee was clearly manifested in 1993 when the widow of Mzee Mayanja, Madalene Nakku, and Kyobe’s cousin, Bruno Senkatuka Serunkuuma applied for the letters of administration and the registrar’s court granted them. The Administrator General, without any haste, ran faster than lightning to court to challenge the circumstances under which the letters of administration were granted to the widow and Kyobe’s first cousin, to which the reversal was made, and the decision of High Court cause No. 265 of 1989 was upheld.  

DEFIANT ADMINISTRATOR GENERAL

The miscellaneous application No. 443/2020 arising from the civil suit 376/2018 before His Lordship Justice David Matovu on November 10, 2020 ordered and declared that;

i) the judgment vide HCCS number 170 of 1990 of Justice Herbert Ntabgoba exhaustively dealt with the estate of the late Andereya Mayanja Nakiyenje and resolved that Henry Kyobe was the sole beneficially of the said estate.  

ii) the Administrator General is appointed the administrator of the estate of the late Kyobe.

iii) the Administrator General is ordered to collect all the land and property that belonged to the late Andereya Mayanja Nakiyenje and pass on the same to the estate of Henry Kyobe.

iv) the Administrator is ordered to furnish with court an account of all properties that now constitute the estate of Henry Kyobe within (3) three months from the date of this ruling.

v)  The Administrator General is ordered to liaise with Bruno Senkatuka Serunkuuma (first cousin to Kyobe) for the purposes of appointing the customary heir to the late Henry Kyobe to benefit from the estate pursuant to section 27 (1) (d) of the Succession Act.

However, it’s only the family that followed the order and appointed Balikuddembe Kaweesa as the heir of the estate, but the Administrator General has since vehemently refused and failed to account for his actions on the same estate. The Administrator General has stubbornly ignored the order, and insiders say more transactions were done on the estate even after this order. The delay in responding to the order has culminated in the strategic transfers in which some of the top officials who messed up Kyobe’s estate can use their new offices to “PROTECT THEIR GAINS”.  Signs show that some of the transferred officials from the Administrator General’s office have remained the big forces behind this mess and defiance.

LAND BONANZA BENEFICIARIES LISTED

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Businessman Hassan Basajjabalaba has urged the government to urgently prioritize the establishment of a national medical insurance scheme, saying the absence of such a system continues to expose Ugandans, especially the poor, to unbearable medical costs and preventable deaths.

He made the call on Saturday, November 16, during the burial of his mother, Hajjat Azida Basajjabalaba, who was laid to rest at the family home in Ishaka–Bushenyi. Amid grief, Basajjabalaba recounted the painful journey the family endured as they tried to save their mother, who battled a complicated heart condition.

In his testimony, he narrated the desperate attempt he made to secure a heart transplant abroad.

“I asked Ambassador Mubiru, can’t you use your office, and I get a heart for this old woman? I wanted him to talk to the government so that I could get the heart,” he said.

He revealed that Ambassador Mubiru later received an emergency call from Kampala and could not advance the matter, while the medical authorities abroad refused to bend any rules.

He recalled, “The commission said it is unethical to smuggle a heart and that we could be arrested for that. Having failed to secure the heart, we gave up, and I sought ways of saving the life of my mother.”

Basajjabalaba said the cost of his mother’s medical care was overwhelming, even for a wealthy family like his.

He disclosed that he spent a minimum of €20,000 (about Shs1 billion) per trip, an amount he said is beyond the reach of an ordinary Ugandan.

“We went to Germany more than ten times, the UK five times, and South Africa five times,” he said, describing the emotional, physical and financial strain his family endured.

He appealed to Parliament and the government to fast-track the national health insurance scheme, saying Ugandans deserve a system that cushions them from catastrophic medical bills.

“I request Deputy Speaker Thomas Tayebwa to tell President Museveni to sign the medical insurance. In Germany, if one falls sick and insurance helps a lot. Instead of striking for political reasons, let’s strike for medical insurance. If my mother had insurance, I would have paid only 40% of the money,” he said.

He cited several regional examples to show the urgency and importance of universal medical insurance.

“In Tanzania, a person above 70 years is treated for free, and a child under five is also treated for free. A woman giving birth receives free medical care,” he said.

Basajjabalaba also noted that the cost of modern medical equipment makes it impossible for hospitals to rely on patient fees alone.

“For instance, the only PET scan in East Africa is at Aga Khan Hospital. It costs $9 million, and no one will pay that money without assurance of recovering it,” he added.

He emphasized that even in neighbouring countries, private hospitals outperform public ones because of limitations in government healthcare systems.

He said, “Even if you go to Kenya or Tanzania, the best hospitals are private. You cannot expect government hospitals to be the best because the process of equipping and supervising them is long and most doctors are always absent.”

Basajjabalaba proposed a bold financing model in which government acquires partial ownership of mission hospitals to subsidize services.

“I propose that since we have Nsambya, Mengo, and Kibuli hospitals, the government should invest 30% of the national budget, about Shs1 trillion, and get ownership so that people are treated at a subsidized cost,” he said.

He cited Kenya’s example, where the government bought 49% of Nairobi Hospital, resulting in more affordable healthcare for citizens.

“These cancer institutes being built won’t work,” he warned, arguing that without an insurance system and proper investment model, many specialized health projects will fail to serve their intended purpose.

Reflecting on his final attempt to save his mother, Basajjabalaba described the heartbreaking moment when he was ready to spend an extraordinary amount of money to secure a heart transplant.

He recounted, “I even walked with $2 million, and I could double it to $4 million to get a heart for my mother. The professor looked at me and asked, Are you sure you can pay $2 million for the 86-year-old woman? I said yes. If it’s not allowed here, we take her to Germany.”

However, the German commission blocked the transplant due to age restrictions.

He added, “The professor told me a person of 80 years cannot be given a heart. And at that time, my mother could not fly to another place.”

Basajjabalaba said this painful experience should compel the country to rethink its health system so that no Ugandan rich or poor has to go through such anguish again.

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